Berlin Hiland overwhelms Knights, ends FCA's Cinderella run

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Fairfield Christian's Bradly Anderson fights for a rebound with Hiland's Kendall Hochestetler ((21) and Samuel Habeger (52) during Tuesday night's regional semifinal basketball game March 13, 2018, at the Ohio University Convocation Center in Athens. The Knights lost the game 64-23.
Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette

Fairfield Christian's Clay Williams gets swarmed by the Hiland defense during Tuesday night's Division IV Regional Semifinal game, March 13, 2018, at the Ohio University Convocation Center in Athens. The Knights lost the game 64-23.
Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette

Fairfield Christian's Bradly Anderson fights for a rebound with Hiland's Kendall Hochestetler ((21) and Samuel Habeger (52) during Tuesday night's regional semifinal basketball game March 13, 2018, at the Ohio University Convocation Center in Athens. The Knights lost the game 64-23.(Photo: Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette)Buy Photo

ATHENS - Fairfield Christian Academy was playing with house money against Berlin Hiland.

The Knights weren’t even supposed to be in the Division IV regional semifinals Tuesday night at the Convocation Center in Athens, but there they were after knocking off top-seeded Fisher Catholic and fifth-seeded Tree of Life to win a Central District title.

Against Hiland, Fairfield Christian looked as if they might pull off another surprise, especially in the first half. The Knights trailed only 20-18 with 2:25 left in the first half, but the Hawks finished the half on an 11-0 run to take a 31-18 lead.

Hiland continued to pressure Fairfield Christian in the second half and was efficient on offense. The Knights had no answer and their Cinderella run ended in resounding fashion, as the Hawks finished the game on an amazing 44-5 run to overwhelm the Knights, 64-23.

“We played well for a quarter and half and that’s it. Then we got fatigued,” Fairfield Christian coach Roger Hooper said. “Against a team like that, it can happen. That is a good team. They can shoot it well, they are physical, and even though they aren’t that tall, they are really strong.”

It was obvious the Hawks (22-6) were going to attempt to take Fairfield Christian senior Caleb Collins out of the game by having a defender face-guard him wherever he went. It worked. Collins went 0 for 6 and scored only two points on a pair of free throws.

However, in the early going, other players stepped up and provided enough scoring for the Knights to hand around.

Fairfield Christian (12-15) made 4 of 9 shots in the first quarter and trailed 12-11. The Knights actually led by one but the Hawks scored on a rebound bucket with two seconds left in the first quarter. Bradly Anderson hit a 3-pointer, Collins had two free throws, point guard Colten Cark had a pair of driving layups and Nolan Blowers’ rebound bucket provided the scoring in the first.

Clark had another driving layup to start the second, Asa Naayers came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer and Anderson hit a tough shot in the paint to cut the deficit to 20-18. From there, it was Hiland. The Hawks scored the first 11 points of the third quarter to push the lead to 42-18.

“It was kind of a snowball effect,” Hiland coach Mark Schlabach said. “I don’t think the score was completely indicative of the kind of game it was. They did a great job of handling our pressure early on, and they really controlled the pace of the game and the tempo of everything until the end of the second quarter and that’s when we finally just wore them down a little bit.

“Collins is a good player and we just wanted to make someone else beat us. Early on, it was coming back to get us because the point guard saw a lot of space because we weren’t helping off the other guys and he took advantage of it. We were just hoping 32 minutes of that pressure would wear them down.

Defensively, Hiland pressured the Knights full court and made it tough for them to even get in their offense at times. Fairfield Christian finished the game with only 28 field goal attempts, making eight. The Knights finished with 18 turnovers and they were out-rebounded 31-16.

On the other hand, the Hawks were efficient on offense hitting 24 of 48 shots from the field with only eight turnovers. The also had 16 offensive rebounds and made 10 of 11 free throws.

Clark led the Knights with six points, and even more impressive was the fact that he only had two turnovers under extreme pressure throughout the game. Anderson added five points and three rebounds.

“Our guys feel bad right now, but they are going to realize they have a lot to be proud of for getting out of the Central District and winning a district title,” Hooper said.